Meridian 59, the pre-EQ granddaddy of "graphical muds" as we called it way back when is still alive and kicking. Meridian 59 was originally released in 1996 by 3DO company and was purchased by Near Death Studios, Inc. in 2001. Since then the game has had seven content upgrades, and surely some engine tweaks, but their website looks about as lovely as any 1996 website might look. In an valiant attempt to bring some of us back, they are offering some free play during the holiday season.

"Near Death Studios, Inc. is proud to offer a one month free trial of our latest expansion, Meridian 59: Evolution in celebration of 10 years online! This trial will run from December 15th, 2005 until January 15th, 2006. During this time, you will have unlimited play time to explore and enjoy the world of Meridian 59."

Go give it a spin and see how things used to look. I'm sure it will be an eye opener, especially for those of you who have had the luxury of cutting your teeth on the modern titles like WoW and CoH. And, at $10.95, the price is right for gamer on a budget, or those who already have 10 accounts.

MMORPG.com is launching an annual "Best of" tradition.

"The Staff of MMORPG.com has carefully selected nominees in seven key categories and now opens the floor to you to cast your votes. In six of these categories we've selected five nominees, but we could not limit it to that few for one. In "Most Anticipated" we have 12 candidates."

The categories are: Favorite Company, Best Graphics, Best PvE, Best PvP, Best Story, Most Anticipated, and Favorite Game. The Prognosticator will now predict the winners:

Favorite Company - Blizzard
Best Graphics - Everquest 2
Best PvE - World of Warcraft
Best PvP - Lineage 2
Best Story - Saga of Ryzom
Most Anticipated - Vanguard (Spellborn was not a nominee?!?)
Favorite Game - World of Warcraft

Blizzard is making mega bucks. NCSoft can now commence eating thine own hearts. This press release speaks for itself.

"Following World of Warcraft's launch last month in the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, we're proud to announce that Azeroth is now the stomping ground of choice for more than five million customers worldwide. Click here to see our new press release detailing the game's latest achievement. We sincerely thank all of the players around the world who have helped us bring each individual World of Warcraft realm to life over the past year."

So, now that the project can easily be funded, when can we expect Starcraft 2? The Prognosticator thinks Blizzard is shying away from that project because they're not sure how to improve on perfection.

Star Wars Galaxies has not been getting any love during this holiday season. The complete redesign of the system has yet to receive a favorable review by the gaming community. (No one sums it up better than Aggro Me.) The developers are ticked off and have issued a manifesto consisting of a myriad of reasons to play SWG. I've never played, but I admit I'm somewhat tempted to give it a whirl, especially since Smed says his goal "has been to make the ga
me more Star Wars-y". Sign me up!

"Online Pre-Order customers will receive a code that gives them guaranteed access to the RF Online closed BETA test, this will be supported in store throughout January with a retail Pre-Order pack containing closed BETA access, an exclusive RF Online soundtrack CD along with faction specific postcards and sticker sheet. Be sure to pre-order now as this is the only way to guarantee closed BETA access and slots are strictly limited."

Not to be outdone, Dungeons and Dragons online followed suit:

"The North American preorder program has officially started. Place an order online with selected retailers and get a special bonus key via e-mail that includes up to 10 days of beta access!"

Remember when beta was something companies did to test their product before release? In the past couple of years beta has turned into a limited pre-release and hype building technique. While it is very obvious and disgusting, I urge you all to go pre-order to claim your one-three-three-seven status. At the time of this writing, http://www.rf-onlinegame.com/ is unavailable. The pre-orders may have overloaded the servers.

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